Found
by Spooky Scully
Summary: Severus Snape thinks he lost his wife and child to the Dark Lord four years ago. When he finds his young daughter still alive, how will he cope? And why has this secret been kept from him? (AU)
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! I hope you enjoy this story. I've had the first chapter for a couple of months and I've been thinking about it for the past few weeks so I decided to post it. Please review**!

Severus was in the teachers library, browsing for new potions material when he looked at his watch, and realized that it was the thirty first of July.

He usually wasn't back at Hogwarts this early during the summer, but he had spent all holiday so far perfecting his potion making, so much so, that he was working non stop, and was sleeping even less than usual. He worked so much, that he was forced back to the school to find new recipes, and stock up on ingredients. This was the first time he'd been in Hogwarts on this particular date.

_Rose's birthday._

It was Rose's birthday today. She was five. Or, she would have been five. He paused for a moment and imagined Rose now, if she was still alive. He knew she looked just like her mother and was just as beautiful as her. Even when she was a baby, she looked just like her mother.

Suddenly, Severus remembered where he was, and what was on a small podium in the centre of the room. It was the book in which the names of all witches and wizards in Britain are written when they are born. It had never occurred to Severus to take a look in the book to see if her name was still there. Perhaps, even, the child's name recorded in the book is erased when they pass away.  
However, Severus decided to have a quick browse through the book that day, and what he found was going to change his life around.

He opened the book and flicked through pages to the year 1980. There was a few hundred names, but it didn't take long for him to find her: Rose Snape, with an address of Godric's Hollow. There was a line through the address, which didn't surprise Severus, his daughter didn't live there anymore, she didn't live anywhere.

But what did catch him off guard was this: below the scribbled out address, in small, neat print, was another address: 24 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey.  
The address was vaguely familiar to Severus, and putting little further thought into it, he realised that it was most unusual that Rose's name hadn't been erased, just the address; as if she hadn't died at all, just simply moved house. Was it possible? Severus contemplated the idea for but a second. Absolutely not, however much he wished it was. He had buried his wife and child in the ground, four years before.

Rose was dead and gone, and so was Lily. They both had been gone for nearly four whole years, and Severus would never see them again, however much he may have wanted to. He picked up the books he was taking and took the floo home, to spinners end, after a quick detour to the potions storage room.

Rose Evans, or 'Freak' to her aunt, uncle and cousin, was exactly six years old. She wished herself a happy birthday. She didn't expect presents or a party. She was orphaned, and lived with her aunt and uncle, who were what she could only describe as cruel. In fact, she was locked in a cupboard under the stairs of 24 Privet Drive, because she had done another one of her 'freakish' tricks and turned Dudley's new pet hamster pink. Her uncle had immediately pulled her by the ear into the cupboard, and then gone for a family day out with Petunia and Dudley.

Rose didn't mind being in the cupboard. She didnt mind being alone in the house, either. When she was alone, her uncle wasn't around, and she was scared of him.  
She lay on her old mattress and pulled her thin blankets around her shoulders. She reached under the mattress to pull out the only photograph she had of her parents.  
She knew it was them, because the lady looked just like her. She kissed the photograph of the smiling couple and closed her eyes. She didn't fall asleep, though. It took her hours to get to sleep at night.

No, Rose just lay there, eyes closed, and imagined. It was her favourite thing to do.  
She imagined a whole other life for herself, a life where someone would come and save her from the Dursleys, and her parents were still alive and that she lived with them and had her own room. A life of love and happiness.  
But Rose knew that it wasn't real, and that nothing but a miracle would give her these things. She enjoyed her imaginings, her few minutes a day in a world that was magical to her.

When Severus arrived into his own sitting room, a sense of exhaustion overwhelmed him. Well, it had been a while since he had a good rest. He threw himself back on the couch and tried to get some shut-eye. But as hard as he tried to get some sleep, he couldn't help but feel a thought nagging in his head. A thought he had had earlier on in the day: was his daughter still alive? No, Severus knew she was not. He also knew that it did him no good to think about her being alive when she wasn't. He could wish all he wanted, but she wasn't coming back. But then what was that unknown address? Alive, or dead, Severus' daughter was listed as living in that house. Even if it was a mistake, it couldn't hurt to visit the house and check, could it?  
Severus quit trying to fall asleep, stood up, and thought about the address. 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging. He couldn't picture it, so he apparated by just thinking of the address.

The street, Privet Drive, was obviously suburban muggle habitat. There were rows of identical houses, with tidy front lawns, clean white picket fences and nice cars in the driveways.  
Number four was just as mundane as the other houses on the street, but there was no car in the driveway - perhaps the owners of the house were out. To be on the safe side, Severus cast a disillusionment charm on himself before opening the front door. The house was just as immaculate on the inside as it was from the front. It was dead silent, and clearly there was nobody home.  
He decided to investigate the house anyway, wondering why it would list this place as his daughter's address in the book. In the sitting room, there were many pictures of a rather fat and piggish-looking young boy, of maybe five. Likewise, the kitchen contained hoards of framed photos of the spoiled looking kid, and there was also a picture of the boy with his parents - one of whom Severus recognised immediately. It was Petunia, Lily's sister. She had been such an unpleasant girl that it didn't surprise Severus in the slightest that she had such an ugly family.

Still, he had no answer as to why he was in Petunia's house. The very fact he was in her house at all was bizarre.

He checked the other downstairs rooms - a dining room and a downstairs toilet (both containing more pictures of the fat little boy)  
just out of curiousity, and on his way out of the house, he noticed a light shining from under the door of the cupboard under the stairs.  
He thought it a most unusual place for somebody to leave a light on, but nothing could prepare him for the shock he got when he opened the door.

Lying under a thin blanket, fast asleep, curled up and sucking her thumb was a little girl.  
Severus' first thought was to take the child out of the cupboard - Were Petunia and her husband mad?! Leaving little girl alone. She didn't look more than four years old.  
He lifted her into his arms, the blanket still draped over her. She was very light, and had deep auburn hair, that was long and flowed nearly to her waist. Just how he remembered Lily's hair.  
The girl stirred in her sleep, and rubbed her eyes, which was when Severus first caught a glimpse of her face, pale and white, with a small button nose just like Lily's. She lay her head on his shoulder.

Severus asked himself it if could really be his daughter. She was beautiful, and looked just like Lily. But Rose was dead. He had been to her funeral, and visited her grave many times. Why would she be alive without him knowing? And why was she living here, of all places? And in these awful conditions?

She squirmed in his arms, finally realising that she wasn't in her own bed. Groggily, her eyes half-opened. She rubbed her sleepy eyes with the back of her hand.  
Her eyes met Severus' and he saw that her eyes were his, so brown that it looked almost black. Just like Rose's eyes had been.  
Severus had no idea what to say to the little girl who was now gazing at him, but he didn't have to, as it was she who spoke first.  
"You look different." she sleepily said.  
Severus was taken aback - she recognised him?  
She blinked her black orbs at him. She yawned widely.

Severus tried to be as gently spoken as possible.  
"Can you tell me your name?" He asked the girl.  
She looked at him silently for a moment.

"Rose" she said timidly. Shock came over Severus. How could it be possible?  
The little girl looked solemnly at him. She had an air of sadness over her.

Severus was about to speak further to Rose when he heard the sound of a car pulling up in the driveway. Petunia and her family were home.  
Rose looked at him in terror.  
Thinking on the spot, Severus apparated to the first place he could think of - his own house at Spinner's End. He had no idea why he did such a thing, it was practically kidnapping, but something in Severus gut told him to do it.

Apparating was still an unpleasant feeling for Severus, even after years of practice, so he couldn't imagine how awful it must have felt for the child in his arms to be involuntarily apparated along with him for the first time.

The two arrived in the small sitting room with a violent thud, Severus wobbling as he tried to keep his balance with the small weight in his arms. The experience of apparating had definitely shaken the girl, who fainted and then flopped out of Severus' arms, before he quickly grabbed her and placed her gently on the couch.

Severus gently shook the girl by the shoulder. She opened her eyes

"Am I...am I dead?"

Severus addressed her "No, you're alive. How did you recognize me?"

"Picture..." she said groggily as she reached into her pocket and handed him a photograph. "...my mummy and dadd..." She passed out sleeping again.

Severus took the photograph from her and looked at it. It was indeed, a picture of himself and Lily. It had been taken around five years previously, when Lily was pregnant with Rose.  
He looked at the little girl on the couch - she was the image of Lily, apart from the eyes, he noticed - she had his eyes. Just like Rose. For a five year old, she was small, but there was no denying that this was their child. He couldn't see any other explanation.

He knelt down to Rose's level, and looked into her eyes.  
"Yes, Rose, I am your father. And I am definitely alive." He pushed some of the stray strands of deep red hair out of her eyes.  
"Where have you been all these years?"

"I always dreamed you would come and save me." She said as tears filled her eyes.

Severus picked her up and kissed her head.  
"Don't cry." He said. "I'm here. I'm not leaving."  
"Uncle Vernon will be angry that I'm gone." She quietly said. "I ran away before and... And..." She started crying again.

"It's quite alright, I'll make sure they don't find out. How long have you lived with Petunia and her family for, Rose?" Severus asked her.

"It's the Dursleys. Since I was a baby." she said simply. "A long long time."

"Did they ever tell you why you lived with them?" Severus questioned her.

"I don't know." Rose said, snuggling into his chest "Because they thought you and my mummy we're dead. Somebody left me on the doorstep. Am I going back there?"

"No. I don't think so." He said. It didn't make any difference if the Dursleys were the nicest people in the world, Rose was his.

"And I'm going to live with you, in your house?" She asked.

Severus nodded.

Rose nodded. "And my mummy. Does she live here too?" She paused for a moment.  
"Because you're alive, that means mummy is too, doesn't it?" She said quietly.

This thought hadn't crossed Severus' mind yet - could Lily be alive too? There was no way to be sure yet.  
"I'm sorry, Rose, but she isn't. She died when you were just a baby"  
Rose looked disappointed. But she had gained one parent, and that was more than she could ever dream of.

**So that's that. I'll get the next chapter posted in the next few days. Please review and tell me if there are any mistakes. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello.. here's the second chapter**

Severus made Rose a plate of sandwiches and she nibbled at them in silence whilst sitting on the couch. Severus sat opposite her, wondering how on earth it was possible that she was alive at all.

She had been dead - four years ago, he remembered the day of the thirty-first of October more clearly than any other day in his life.

_ Severus wasn't there when it happened. He was at Hogwarts at the time, at an Order meeting. He had come alone because he and Lily decided to take it in turns and fill each other in afterwards, because someone needed to be at home to look after the then one-year-old Rose. _  
_Halfway through the meeting, a patronus arrived from someone at the auror office that there had been yet another attack - it was a regular occurrence. But this time it was different. For one thing, the attack was in Godric's Hollow, where Severus and Lily had been living._

_Dumbledore and a bunch of aurors were already at the house when Severus arrived. He could tell instantly that the worst had happened, and his fears were confirmed when he saw the two bodies in the bedroom. Little Rose was lying peacefully in her cot - She could have been sleeping, and Lily was lying on the floor in front, as if she had tried to shield Rose from Voldemort's spell._

_Initially, Severus was numb. He remembered Dumbledore telling him that Voldemort was gone, and that whatever had happened in Godric's Hollow that night had ended the Dark Lord's reign for now. But none of that mattered to Severus. Not when he didn't have his wife and daughter. _

There was one thing that Severus found clear: if anyone knew about this, it would have to be Dumbledore. He was at the scene before Severus even got there. He was the most powerful wizard there was. Powerful enough to bring a girl back from the dead? Or, was Rose ever really  
dead at all?  
But, aside from that, what purpose did keeping Rose away from her father serve?  
If Dumbledore was behind this (which was the only explanation Severus had) why would he tell Severus that his daughter was dead and put him through such pain? Not to mention the fact that he had placed her with muggles, and at that, the very worst kind of muggles.

And now that he had taken Rose back, Severus wondered if Dumbledore would try and take her away again. He probably knew that he had her already, the old man knew everything.  
Would Petunia file a missing persons report? He tried not to think about it. However, he would have to face Dumbledore about it sometime, and sometime soon. In the next few days, in fact, as term was starting in just one month, and Dumbledore was sure to need him for something.  
It didn't matter anyway, because there was no way that he was ever letting Rose go away again.

He looked over at her. She had finished eating, and Severus collected the plate and sent it to the kitchen with magic.  
Rose jumped in her seat. "How did you do that?!" she asked.  
"Do what?"  
"How did you make the plate fly? And get from the Dursley's house to this one in just a moment?"  
"Ah..." It just hit Severus that Rose had no idea what magic was. Raised by muggles, how would she? "It's magic, Rose. I am a wizard. And you're a witch."

Rose looked confused. "Magic? It's really magic?"  
Severus nodded. "You'll be able to do it too, in a few years."  
"Sometimes I make weird stuff happen. Is it magic too?" She asked  
"Probably, if there was no other explanation." Severus was impressed if his daughter was already performing accidental magic at the age of six.  
"But magic isn't a freakish thing, Rose. It is very powerful and useful, once you can control it.  
Rose looked at him as if she didn't quite believe him. Severus remembered how he had told Lily that she was a witch when they were children. Rose was unmistakably Lily's daughter.

"So, I'm a witch.. Not.. a freak.." Rose trailed off.  
"No, of course you aren't a freak. Your mother was a witch too." Severus replied, putting a hand on her shoulder. Petunia and her family had clearly treated Rose's magic the same way Petunia had treated Lily's when they were younger.  
"Oh." she said quietly. She always spoke in such a little, hushed voice, as if she wasn't meant to be talking.

Severus knew from what he had seen that she hasn't been living in suitable conditions, but he had yet to notice any signs of physical abuse, except from her size, of course. Severus hadn't had much experience with six year olds before, but he thought that Rose was unusually tiny and that she hadn't been eating properly. He decided that he would administer a quick body scan later on, and made a mental note to get her checked by Madam Pomfrey. Not today, though. Today was her birthday, after all.

Severus didn't have anything planned for her birthday, of course. Usually, he would just visit Rose's grave on her birthday, but seeing as she was actually alive this year, that tradition had gone out the window. He knew exactly what present to give her, though. The gift was in a small, red, velvet jewelry box that Severus kept in a cabinet in his bedroom. He quickly charmed some wrapping paper over it and magicked a birthday card out of yesterday's newspaper (wizards can do all kinds of things like that). He put the present in his pocket and went back into the sitting room.

"So, what do you want to do for your birthday?" Severus asked Rose.  
He swore that he had never seen a face light up like Rose's did when he asked her that question.  
"You remembered my birthday? " she sheepishly (and quietly) said.  
"Of course I did." Severus replied. "I'm your father. It's my job to remember things like birthdays."  
"I never had a birthday before." She said "I don't know what to do."  
"How about we take a trip into town?" Severus asked her. "You need to get some new things now that you're back."  
Rose nodded.

"Right then," Severus said, "stand still for one moment."  
Severus aimed his wand at her, muttering under his breath. Rose watched as he transformed her old baggy hand-me-down clothes into a neat green skirt and blouse, and her dirty trainers into a pair of shoes.  
"That will do for now. You can get better things when we get to Diagon Alley." Severus said.  
Rose thought he was mad, saying that the outfit would 'do for now'. It was by far the prettiest thing she had ever worn. She looked at her reflection in the window behind her and smiled to herself.  
Not wanting to put the girl through the unpleasant sensation of apparating again, he decided that they would travel by the floo.  
"Alright then, shall we give this a go?" Severus asked, handing Rose a small handful of Floo powder. "What happens is this. On the count of three, you throw the powder on the ground, and you shout 'Diagon Alley', loudly and clearly. Can you say that for me?"  
Severus could tell simply by looking at Rose that the very thought of shouting made her nervous.  
"Diagon Alley." Rose said with what was in her opinion, loudness.  
"Louder, Rose."  
Rose mustered up all the confidence she had to say it again. This time it was definitely loud and clear enough.  
"Yes, that's very good. Well done." Severus said, giving her a pat on the head. 'Now stand in the fireplace. You're going to arrive in an inn. It will be full of people but I want you to stay right beside the fireplace. I'll be seconds behind you, understand?"  
she nodded.  
"On the count of three, 'Diagon Alley', alright? One, two, three!"  
"Diagon Alley!" Rose half-shouted, and she disappeared in a puff of green smoke. Severus followed her and found himself in the Leaky Cauldron. Rose was standing beside the fireplace as he had told her to, worried-looking, as if she might miss him in the masses of people that were passing through the room. Severus knelt down and brushed the dirt from the floo from her clothes.  
"Well done, Rose. Not many people master the floo on their first try." He said as he picked her up. Severus brought Rose out of the inn, to a brick wall which he tapped with his wand. The wall opened up into the most amazing street Rose had ever seen. She saw people wearing funny pointy hats, owls flying all over the place, and a crowd of children staring ravenously at what appeared to be a broom.  
"This is Diagon Alley, Rose. It's where witches and wizards come to do their shopping and business."  
"Wow." She simply said.  
"I'm afraid we have to do the boring part first - I need to go to the bank."

Rose found Gringotts fascinating. The little goblins were a little scary. She found the ride down to Severus' vault exciting, where he put two hundred gold coins, or galleons, as Severus told her they were called, into a small drawstring bag. He told her it could hold as much as one wanted.

After the trip to the bank, Severus decided to get Rose her new clothes.  
Severus let Rose down and she walked to Madam Malkin's Robes shop alongside him, holding his hand.  
"Oh, what a precious little girl!" The sales assistant exclaimed when the two walked into the shop. "What can I do for you?"  
Rose hid behind Severus' legs.  
"She needs a whole new set of clothes. Dresses, tops, bottoms, shoes, jackets, the lot."  
"I see" the woman said "let's just measure you first."  
Severus pushed Rose in front of him and a measuring tape magically measured the fit of the clothes for her.  
"Alright, that's fine. I'll need to take your name. Any special requests?" She asked as she took down the measurements.  
Severus looked at Rose who looked back at him silently.  
"It's Snape. Just whatever you think is best for her." Severus replied. He honestly could say that he didn't know his daughter much better than any stranger did.  
"OK, Sir. The clothes will be ready in two hours and the cost will come to fifty galleons."  
"That's quite alright. Thank you." Severus said, taking Rose's hand, they left the shop.

"What shall we do next? How about an ice-cream?" He asked Rose.  
Rose hadn't a clue what to choose in Fortescue's ice-cream parlour. She had eaten ice cream a few times before when there was leftovers from dessert (which was very unusual because Vernon and Dudley ate so much of it)  
In the end, she chose a chocolatey thing that was very tasty. She actually ate all of it too, which Severus decided was a testament to her as she was so small.  
After the ice-cream, Severus decided to go to Flourish and Blotts to buy this years new textbooks.

He'd been a teacher at Hogwarts for the past five years or so. He couldn't honestly say he liked his job. He hated children. He loved Rose, and always had, but that was different because she was his. But teenagers, they annoyed Severus to the bone. Incessantly feeling sorry for themselves and expecting special treatment.  
But what he did like about being a Potions Master was having the time to actually make potions. He was a trained healer, he made medicinal potions for St Mungo's, and was already renowned in potion journals for his work at the age of just twenty-six.

In the bookshop, Severus set about looking for these new textbooks in the potions section, with Rose still holding his hand. When he knelt down to look for an edition on the bottom shelf, he was surprised to hear her speak, for the first time since they had arrived at Diagon Alley.  
"You do have a lot of books in your house."  
"I do." Severus said. "Can you read, Rose?"  
Severus saw a big smile cross her face.  
"Yes!" She proudly said. "I love reading."  
"Where did you learn to read?" Severus asked her "School?"  
Rose was the right sort of age to go to school - if the Dursley's had bothered to send her.  
"Oh, no. Only Dudley goes to school. I stay at home to clean. I didn't really learn. I think I could always read." She said.  
It was totally depressing to Severus that his daughter had spent the last four years cooped up in a cupboard under the stairs, not even starting her education. Thankfully she seemed pretty bright.  
Severus found his book.  
"We can get you some books now, if you want," He said as he lifted her up "in fact, I'll buy you an endless supply of books. There is simply no better pastime than reading, Rose. Remember that."

Rose chose three books. Two fiction stories and a factual book, all with moving pictures which amazed her. In the queue to pay, Severus noticed several Hogwarts students buying schoolbooks looking at him strangely. He supposed it did look strange - Severus wasn't exactly the fatherly type of teacher.  
After they collected Rose's clothes, the Leaky Cauldron was the last stop before they headed home.

Back at Spinner's End, Rose sat on the couch reading her new books.  
Severus needed to sort out a room for her. She had lived in Godric's Hollow as a baby, as Lily and Severus had agreed that Spinner's End was not the type of place they wanted to bring up their child in. However, their cottage in Godric's Hollow was destroyed, and since Severus spent most of the year living in his quarters at Hogwarts, he had simply never bothered buying another house.  
The small spare room, Severus' own from when he was a child,was dingy and dark and in good need of a dusting. He gave it a clean with his wand and also replaced the old wallpaper with a light pink paint. He made the bed white, and changed the sheets to a flowery pattern, with curtains to match. He transfigured an old basket that was on the floor into a wardrobe and made two lamps out of spools of thread found in a sewing kit and placed them on the bedside tables, which were white too. He summoned the boxes of clothes they had bought and they sorted themselves in the wardrobe.

He came back downstairs to check up on Rose, who was still reading, when he heard a knocking sound from the kitchen. It was from a large owl carrying a square box. Severus knew exactly what it was. It was the birthday cake he had ordered whilst in Diagon Alley. He put five candles on it, and brought it into the sitting room. He placed it down on the coffee table in front of Rose.  
He was excited by his new lease of fatherhood, but he was still Severus Snape. And Severus Snape does not sing the birthday song. "Happy Birthday, Rose." He said simply. "make a wish."  
Rose was positively beaming as she blew out her candles. She didn't even wish for anything, as she couldn't imagine anything being better than what she had gotten today.  
"This is for you." Severus told her, handing her a small box.  
Rose opened the present so carefully, as if the wrapping paper was a part of the gift too. Inside, was a shining emerald on a silver chain.  
"It belonged to your mother" Severus told her. "It's an emerald, it's the very colour of your mother's eyes."  
Rose held the necklace up for Severus to fasten around her neck.  
"I love it. Thank you." She said and gave him a kiss on the cheek.  
They spent the rest of the evening eating cake and Severus told Rose more about the wizarding world. He avoided talking about matters relating to the Dursley's, for today at least - it was her birthday after all. After a while, she began to doze off. It was only half past seven, but it had been a big day for her. Severus carried her upstairs to her room and changed her clothes into pyjamas. He tucked her in to her bed and kissed her head. She looked so much like her mother.  
Severus didn't leave her side. He sat in the armchair beside the bed. Nothing was ever going to take Severus Snape's daughter away from him again - not Voldemort, and definitely not Dumbledore.

**thanks for reading - reviews are always ****_greatly _****appreciated. I think we might meet Dumbledore in the next chapter! Thanks!**


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